


Providence

by MistAndMagic



Category: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel - Michael Scott
Genre: Billy says fuck a lot, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Road Trips, Swearing, We love him, for the purpose of saving the world, it's okay tho, more weird acquaintances to friends to boyfriends, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:02:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28680063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistAndMagic/pseuds/MistAndMagic
Summary: Oh my weary soulWe've met your kind beforeSet fire to us allThe elders are trying to destroy the world (again) and it's up to Billy and Mac to save it.For the SINF gift exchange!
Relationships: Niccolò Machiavelli/Henry "Billy the Kid" McCarty (Nicholas Flamel)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7
Collections: SINF gift exchange





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DiamondDove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondDove/gifts).



Mac was _tired_. He had been for years- decades, even. Trying to appease his elder master and keep up with the entire French police system was a lot for one man, even one as capable as Machiavelli, and even with Dagon by his side. He was tired of being immortal, truthfully. After enough time alive, everything starts bleeding together, and activities that one used to enjoy lose their appeal. 

Presently, he was laying in bed, hands folded over his chest as he stared into the pitch-black room, trying to get some sleep for once in his life and ruminating over his life presently, and what it had come to. Nothing he liked, that was for certain. He needed a change, but how on earth was he going to get that, being a gopher for some of the most powerful creatures in the universe? He let out a sigh and got up out of bed, giving up on sleep for now despite the bone-deep exhaustion dragging on him as he went into the kitchen, starting to fix himself a cup of coffee.

Though, when Dagon appeared out of the darkness with Machiavelli’s buzzing phone, he damn near jumped out of his skin, dropping the coffee grounds on the counter before grabbing his phone out of the other’s hand and answering it. The number was his elder master’s, though why they were calling at 2 in the morning, he didn’t know. 

“Hello?” His voice was thick with exhaustion, Italian accent heavy.

“Hello, Machiavelli. I have a task for you.” They continue speaking without giving him a chance to respond. “I owe one of my associates a favor, and that favor has just been called in. You are to go and find a wayward humani servant, by the name of Billy the Kid. He has gone missing, and my associate would like him returned. He was last seen in your human city of Phoenix. You have a week to locate him.” With that, they hung up, not giving Mac a chance to respond, and he rubbed his eyes with a groan. Coffee was going to have to wait.

“Not good news, I take it?” Dagon asked, and Mac waved a hand.

“Rather neutral, all things considered. Apparently, I am going to Arizona. Book me a flight while I pack, please. And perhaps finish making coffee?” He asked hopefully, and Dagon nodded. Mac sighed. “Good man.” He went back to his bedroom and pulled his suitcase out of his closet, starting to pack clothes into it neatly as he pondered his current assignment. Billy the Kid… he’s heard of the man, though never met him before. He finished packing and went back out to the kitchen, taking a travel mug from Dagon and letting out a sigh as he took a long drink of strong black coffee. “You’re a lifesaver. Is everything sorted?”

“Yes. Let me go get the car and we can depart.” Dagon burbles, getting the keys from a hook by the door before going out to the garage and pulling the car around. Machiavelli went out, handing his suitcase over before getting in the back seat, drinking his coffee as he scrolled through his emails, making sure there was nothing that needed his attention before he left. Only one email that’s important, today. He responded to it before typing up a memo to his department, letting them know he’ll be out of the country for a few days. He put his phone away after sending it, then leaned back in his seat and stifled a yawn, relaxing as he’s driven to the airport, where he’ll be catching a red-eye to Phoenix. 

The drive is quiet, boring even, and when Dagon pulls up at the airport, Machiavelli was fast asleep in the backseat, arms crossed over his chest and his head tipped back against the headrest. He woke easily enough when he was shaken gently though and got out, taking his suitcase from his chauffeur and shaking his hand. “I will see you in a few weeks then, Dagon. Assuming my head has not been separated from my shoulders by that point, at any rate.”

  
A wry smile quirked his lips and the fishman tipped his cap before getting back into the car and pulling away. Mac headed into the airport, checked in, and handed his suitcase over to the baggage handlers, then started towards his gate with his laptop bag over his shoulder. No security for him, as he was taking a private jet over. At least he’d finally be able to sleep on the plane. The airport was quiet, but not empty, and he got to the gate and boarded with no problems before settling in his seat and promptly trying to take a nap. It was a long flight from Paris to Phoenix. 

Several hours later, he was there and stepping off, where he was greeted by another driver. Ah, Dagon. He really did think of everything. Mac mused on that as he got into the car, turning his phone back on and checking it. A few missed messages. Nothing important. He put it away again, watching the city lights and the desert as they drove. It had a certain beauty to it, he had to admit. A sort of not-unwelcome starkness that was very much a contrast to the greenery of Paris that he’d just left behind- he could see why Billy chose to remain here, in the American southwest. He got checked into his hotel and then set his laptop up and connected to the internet, starting to look into the mystery of the missing cowboy. An email’s arrived for him as well, with everything he needs to start his search- receipts, a train ticket into Phoenix dated a few days ago, a photo of the cowboy, not a bad looking man, and a photo of the man’s car, which… with a car like that, Machiavelli did have to wonder how on earth they lost him. No matter. It shouldn’t be much of a challenge for Mac to locate him, even if he did have to pull some strings with the local government to get access to all the security cameras. Three hours into the hunt, he got his first match, a still from a camera of the man leaving a gas station on the other side of the city yesterday morning. A little more digging, and he managed to find a shot of that gaudy car as well, sitting at a pump at the same gas station. Well. This shouldn’t be hard to follow. And follow he did, tracking the car to Flagstaff as of an hour ago. 5 minutes later, his driver was summoned and they were on their way. 

30 minutes later, they were in Flagstaff, searching for that car again, and he finds it outside of a crappy motel, having the driver park and just watching for a bit. The man- Billy- came out eventually and went over to his car, and Mac sighed and got out. Well, this was easier than he thought it would be, seeing as Billy was making absolutely no attempt to hide. It did make him stop and wonder for just a moment though. If he was this easy to find, what were the dark elders attempting to pull? He wouldn’t put it past them to have cooked up some insane scheme. He shook off those thoughts after a minute though and approached the cowboy, who spotted him quickly and then kept a wary eye on him as he got closer. 

“Your elder masters have been looking for you. I’ve been sent to bring you back, so you can complete your task.” Machiavelli gave him what he hoped was a somewhat-reassuring smile, but it probably came off as more cold and cunning than warm.

“I know what they want. What I don’t know though, is who you are.” 

Hm. Texas accent. It suited him more than Mac would care to admit, and there was something charming about this… Billy, as uncivilized as he seemed at first glance. 

“Niccolo Machiavelli. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” 

“Ooh, pissed them off enough that they pulled out the big guns, huh?”

“I’m not sure to what you’re referring.”

“Oh, come on Italian. Don’t play dumb with me. Master loses their servant, can’t find them, the people they send to find them don’t return, and they pull out the Italian bloodhound. I know who you are, and I know what you do. And I’ll tell you now- I ain’t interested in going back or finishing what I was tasked with. So I suggest you turn your happy ass around and prance on back to wherever you came from.” Billy leaned on the hood of his car, chewing on a piece of bubblegum with his eyes narrowed as he watched Machiavelli, who was starting to get the impression that this cowboy was smarter than he let on, and smarter than his master gave him credit for.

“All right. I’ll bite. What were you told to do?”

Billy appraised him for a few moments, seemingly weighing his options in his head as he tried to decide whether he could trust the other man or not. “Hm. Fine. I was told to come to Arizona, meet some associate of my master’s here. Innocent enough so far, sure. But when I get here, wouldn’t you fucking know, I’m told to pretty much kickstart the next apocalypse. Plagues, war, giant beasts, natural disasters, famine, etcetera. The whole package. Guy I’m meeting with gives me some weird package, tells me to open it when everything’s ready, and it’ll start all that great stuff I mentioned earlier. Wipe the earth clean so the elders can move in and take over again. And that… that I’m not doing. I’m still onna the humans, and I aim to keep them safe from these schemes. Political meddling and fueling the elder squabbles, sure. Making the earth uninhabitable and wiping out the rest of my race? Nah. Not happening.” He shakes his head, and Mac blinks. 

“Well then. That’s certainly more honorable than what I expected from one of your… reputation.” He casts an appraising eye over Billy, who bristles a bit. 

“I gotta live here too, y’know. Now either fuck off back where you came from and pretend you couldn’t find me and this never happened, or help me get this shit somewhere where it won’t be misused. You’ve got 15 minutes before I aim to be on the road again. Make up your mind.” 

“And where do you intend to take it?”

“Another shadowrealm, where it’ll be locked away and not able to cause havoc.” 

“Can I have more information than that?”

“No.” 

Mac sighs. “And you say they’re aiming for the total annihilation of humanity?”

“Yup. Pretty sure that’ll eventually include you n’ me too. So might be worth helping me just to save your own hide. Heard that you’re real interested in doing that and always have been.” 

He hums, contemplating that. “You’ve heard correctly. You’re of no use to yourself or anyone else if you’re dead. So you have pandora’s box in your trunk presently?” 

“Nah. Not actually pandora’s box. I delivered that a few months ago.” He smirked, and Mac couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. 

“Very well.” He went over to his car and retrieved his suitcase, paying the driver before waving him off and going back over to the horribly gaudy car. “I expect more proof and more explanation, but I am also invested in not allowing humans to be wiped from the face of the earth.” He put his bag in the back seat and opened the passenger side door, pausing as he looked across at the cowboy, who was staring at him with a shocked, confused expression. “Cat got your tongue? Come on. We ought to get moving before my elder also realizes what I’ve done.” He slid in with that, placing his smaller bag by his feet as he shut the door. 

Billy got in on the driver’s side, stammering for a moment as he frowned at Mac and started the car. “Pretty sure you’re just keeping tabs on me for your master and mine right now, but all right. Just keep in mind, if you double-cross me, it ain’t gonna be pretty.” He looked forward again and pulled out of his parking spot, then turned out onto the road and headed for the highway.


	2. Chapter 2

This was going to be a very long drive. Machiavelli had guessed that from the start, but just how awkward it was, even he wasn’t prepared for. Billy would barely look at him, much less speak to him, except for the brief periods where he was talking nonstop about god only knew what- nothing Mac understood- and wouldn’t shut up for love nor money. He eventually resorted to leaning against the window, head in his hand under the pretense of sleep until they stopped for the evening, at some terrible roadside motel. It probably had bedbugs. He got out of the car, following Billy inside as he adjusted his shirt sleeves and took it all in, only half-listening to the conversation for the most part. When the cowboy stepped away from the counter, however, he was only holding one room key, and Mac raised an eyebrow at him.

He shrugged. “Last room they had, take it or leave it.”

“Take it, I suppose…” He sighed, retrieving his bag before following the other man into the room, shaking his head at the single bed. “I am not sharing a bed with you.”

“Aw, c’mon.” The American was  _ smirking _ , an expression Machiavelli found utterly intolerable. “I’ve been told I make a nice pillow.”

“Absolutely not.”

“You need to sleep sooner or later.”

“I do not, and I will not.”

“If you don’t sleep, you’re a risk to both of us.”

Okay, he had a point there, but Mac was never going to admit it. “Fine. We’ll take sleeping in shifts- there should be one person awake to keep an eye on things anyway.”

“Sounds good.” Billy tossed his things down in one of the chairs and locked the door behind them. “You eat or nah? I know some real old immortals are weird about food.”

“Not typically. I don’t have a need for it.”

“Huh, really? That’s weird. Can’t imagine not eating.” His nose wrinkled and Mac raised an eyebrow. 

“Well, when everything tastes like dirt, there’s not too much of a point to it.”    
  
“Wild. Y’all are wild. Hope that doesn’t happen to me.”

“It will, sooner or later. It happens to every immortal.”

“Still say that’s super weird.” He kicked off his boots and flopped down in a chair after pulling the curtains, and Mac sat down at the edge of the bed as the other man turned the TV on. 

“Cartoon Network?”

“It’s good- don’t knock Scooby-Doo til you’ve watched it, old man.”

God, Billy was insufferable. “You’re a child. If this is what you’ll be doing for the rest of the night, I think I might sleep just to avoid it.”

“Yup. Nighty night.” He grinned and Mac rolled his eyes, removing his shoes and turning the lights out before laying down in bed, hands folded over his chest as he finally relaxed a bit- and perhaps was subtly watching the TV, trying to figure out what Billy found so appealing about this strange children’s show. Before long, he was watching it more intently, propped up against the pillows. The cowboy was quiet finally, at least- asleep in his chair with his head back and the remote in his lap, and Machiavelli was free to watch without the obnoxious man poking fun at him.

He wasn’t usually one for TV. There were better things to do. Right now though? Nothing. He supposed he could change the channel, but there was something oddly endearing about this gang of clumsy sleuths solving mysteries- even though he didn’t understand the talking dog one bit. He wound up watching it until the sun came up and Billy finally stirred, stretching with a groan before relaxing again. Hm. He was such a young immortal, wasn’t he? Still needing things like sleep, and food… he seemed so very human. 

Machiavelli turned the TV off and leaned back in his chair, watching as Billy got up and stumbled into the bathroom, bleary-eyed and sleepy. When he came back out, Mac turned to watch him. 

“Good morning, sunshine. Shall we get on the road again?” He asked, and only got a grunt in response as the cowboy collected clean clothes from his bag and disappeared into the bathroom again. Mac smiled, just a little bit. There was something endearing about this man… sleepy and grumpy in the mornings, and again, just so human, still full of that zest and verve and love for life. Something Machiavelli lost a long time ago. Once Billy was dressed, he picked up his bag and followed him back to the car, putting it in the trunk before settling into the passenger’s seat once more. Time for another 12-hour leg- though he doesn’t actually know how far they’re going.

“How much longer until we arrive at our destination?” He glanced over briefly at the American, who shrugged.

“A few days, probably? Depends.”

Christ. Days stuck in a relatively small car with a man who hated him. “Mmm. Very well.” 

“Hey now. You knew what you signed up for.”

“I’d argue that I very much did not. You haven’t been very forthcoming with information, Henry.” 

“Billy. Only people who I’m sleeping with get to call me Henry.” And there was that insufferable smirk again as Mac rolled his eyes and heaved a long-suffering sigh.

“Fine, then. Billy. Where are we going?” 

“Told you. To a shadowrealm where I can get rid of this.” 

“That’s not very helpful.”

“Stop asking stupid questions then. If you’re reporting back to your elder masters, I’m not going to just give you everything you need to screw me over.” He glanced over at Mac before looking back at the road.

He did have to admit, this cowboy was a bit smarter than he gave him credit for. “Very well.” He was quiet for a few hours before speaking again.

“What exactly is it that you have in the trunk then, if it’s not Pandora’s pithos?” 

“Hell if I know. It’s got some norse shit on it, and I was just told it’d destroy the world once it was opened. So… Ragnarok in a bottle, I guess?” He laughs, and Mac finds himself smiling too. There’s something about Billy’s laugh that’s just infectious.

“As good of a guess as any then.” 

“Hah. Yeah. I just plan on chucking it into a magic volcano and destroying it completely before it can cause any shit.”

“Not a bad plan, as far as they go. I’ve certainly heard much worse.” Primarily from one Doctor John Dee… He’d be happy if he never had to deal with another of Dee’s plans again. “On a related note, if Dr. Dee suggests something… do the opposite.”

“Who’s Dee?”

“No one you want to deal with, believe me. Another one of the dark elder’s servants, but he tends to be much more experimental with his methods. In a bad way.”

“Huh. Sounds like he’s an interesting fellow.”

“That’s possibly the politest way I’ve ever heard someone describe the man.”

“My momma raised me with manners at least.” He grins and shrugs. 

“Apparently. Are we stopping for the night again tonight or driving straight through?”

Billy glances at the gas gauge. “Probably gonna stop for the night. Gonna need to stop for gas in two or three hours though.” 

Mac nods and gets his phone out, taking care of some work as he settles in for another long day. At least Billy’s being more friendly now.


End file.
